This is a transcript of The World Today broadcast at 12:10 AEST on local radio.

Concern over illegal sterilisation

The World Today - Monday, December 18, 2000 12:24

COMPERE: There is renewed concern that doctors seem to be performing illegal sterilisation procedures on people with intellectual disabilities.

The Federal Attorney-General has written an open letter to the Australian Medical profession reminding members that it is illegal to sterilise anyone without court authorisation, and as Rachel Mealey reports for us, disability groups hope the Federal Government keeps the pressure up to weed out doctors who ignore the procedure.

RACHEL MEALEY: A 1992 High Court decision stipulated that parents don't have the right to order the sterilisation of a child thus procedures have been set up within the Family Court and the Federal Magistrates Court for decisions on sterilisation to be made independently.

But the Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams is concerned that doctors are overlooking the need for court approval.

Geoff Heath is the editor of the Link Disability magazine. He says a study into the extent of sterilisation reveals only two per cent of the operations that are performed have court approval. He says a more stringent monitoring procedure is needed.

GEOFF HEATH: I think that it's a process that people are just deciding to bypass because it's convenient. There are no apparent penalties in place to back up the ruling so I guess a lot of people are shrugging their shoulders and saying why bother, I've decided what should be appropriate and I'll just go off and do it. Well I don't think that that's the way we should be running society if it's been decided that a process should be put in place and should be followed then we should be following it.

RACHEL MEALEY: The Medicare benefit schedule states that medical practitioners could be subject to criminal and civil and convictions if they go ahead with a sterilisation procedure without court approval, but Geoff Heath says in order for doctors to be reprimanded there needs to be an understanding of where the procedures are happening and who is carrying them out.

GEOFF HEATH: Certainly as a first step we need greater information about who are performing the procedures and being able to monitor it much more carefully and that's something that must happen, but the government must support it that so that we can be very clear, have a good understanding of who is involved and what their attitudes are and what they're actually doing.

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